Valencia

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The seas calmed during the night. The forecast was for cloudy skies and a 70% chance of rain. The high was to be 60. As we pulled into the harbor at 8 AM, the sky was clear and temperature was in the mid 60s. The guides all tell us that forecasting in the spring and fall around here is notoriously bad but it worked in our favor. Everybody did the same thing today; walking tour of the city, paella for lunch and a boat ride through the wetlands at the Albufera Parc. We did the walking tour before lunch and the boat ride after. Others did it the other way around. We were in groups of 15 selected on a sign up sheet the night before. Since Fran wasn't at her best this week and since i'm not so friendly, we didn't seek out anyone in particular to join with. I'm unable to determine whether or not anyone sought us out but i doubt it. In our group was the limping lady with the cane and badly scarred ankle and some serious photographers (carrying two cameras) so I knew the walking tour would be a continuation of slowwwwwwww. The limping lady really didn't slow us down. It was the photographers. You know the person that always asks that extra question when everybody else is ready to move on? Well today we had one, maybe two photographers that got stuck taking pictures of doors or windows or signs in windows or fruit. Now come on, fruit is fruit. I'll bet she never took a picture of an orange at Whole Foods. We waited patiently, actually enjoying what is an eminently enjoyable city. it's charming, clean, has what appears to be excellent shopping, what appears to be good food, and some interesting buildings.

The first thing we saw was the Science and Arts Complex designed by Calatrava and it is spectacular. There is a lot to talk about but you can read about it if you want somewhere else. I'll just say a couple of things. First, a bit like Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao, it put Valencia on the map. The architecture soars with creativity and it's visually spectacular. I remember recently reading some very harsh reviews of the World Trade Center transportation hub recently completed; designed by Calatrava. Michael Kimmelman's review in the NY Times is entitled "Santiago Calatrava's Transit Hub is a Soaring Symbol of a Boondoggle." That was the nicest thing he said in the review of the $4 billion construction. So I asked the guide how Valencianos feel about Calatrava. She said in her highly accented Spanish, "we are about 50/50 on it." They love what it looks like. They love the tourism. But it doesn't work very well. For example, the soaring ceilings make it impossible to have a conversation in the science hall. But mostly they are pissed off about everything going over budget by at least 100%. When you see the buildings you can immediately see why. The engineering is incredibly complex. Should they have known? I don't know but we sure should have in NY. It's not like the issues were new. Anyway, we crossed his very beautiful suspension bridge and then dropped down into the complex. I have some photos. the guy's a genius but with issues.

Next we got off the bus and went into the market. It's very large and filled with over 300 stalls of people selling food; from Jamon, to fruit and vegetables, and fish to nuts. The quality seemed exceptional. I bought some walnuts to snack on. Our guide said they were from California. Oh well. We walked from one neighborhood to another and slowed by the 15th century exchange, where businessMEN (not a typo) would meet to make their deals. Our guide pointed out the interesting gargoyles. There was a naked woman pointing in the direction of the brothel district. I didn't take that picture. But I did take a picture of another one. Look carefully at the gargoyle on the right. Even in the 15th century, Valencianos had a sense of humor. Back on the bus and back to the waterfront where we went to a paella restaurant. The paella looked wonderful as the cooked it fresh. The final product was ok, not terrific. But it was fun nonetheless. With paella I recommend beer, the hoppy, yeasty stuff that the brew in Spain.

The final part of the day was a boat ride through Albufera Nature Reserve, just a few minutes south of the city. It's a freshwater wetland system and we rode little boats through the reeds to open water. We saw a lot of birds; rails, herons, gulls and teals, just like in the slide show the night before. The guests were in awe. They had never been to Florida Bay or the Everglades.

Valencia is a city worth a special visit. Lots to see and no reason to rush through it.

Back to the boat and a quick departure for our overnight trip to Barcelona. We had dinner with the hotel manager which, logically, is what they call the guy that is in charge of all the hotel aspects of the ship; rooms, bar, food, and laundry. He's a hoot. He's Canadian but lives in the Philippines. He married a Filipino girl but she left him for a Filipino guy, is divorcing him and is traveling around the world with the new guy. He's not bitter (right) but he mentioned it many times. He has 4 dogs at home in the Philippines and then he mentioned he had fighting cocks too. Well the Irish girl at the table would have none of that and wouldn't let go of it. He demurred. It's what they do in the Philippines, he said. I was amused. The ocean was getting really chunky with waves hitting as high us as the 5th deck; our stateroom level. It was time to go to bed. This was not an easy sleep night.

We woke up as we were pulling into the harbor at Barcelona. This is a big city. We put our bags outside the door, had a little breakfast, hopped on the bus and arrived at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We're still rocking but all's good. Home tomorrow.

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[Erica Hartman-Horvitz]

Fly safe ,
Love, E and R